Back At AM-490!
We're back with coverage from this Go's Jumps! This past Saturday was a very busy one for AM-490 Cadets as they made their way through their 5 jumps. With only a few getting to their 5th we stopped by again yesterday and today to catch more as they completed their 5th!
Click here to read some background on Jump from our earlier blog this month when these cadets were in the middle of Ground Training.
During the academic year, all classes are split into M and T days and depending on what their schedule is like will determine what day they will take a class. When AM-490 has a Saturday class, those days tend to include both M and T day groups. Below cadets are getting geared up before heading out to the plane. We were able to catch one of the Cadets getting her jump wings zipped into her flight suit, the cadets only wear these on their 5th and final jump.
The Cadets have been Jumping just about every day this week, outside of Monday and Sunday which are no Jump days. On the weekdays the M and T day students only have about 2 hours to jump during their class period but on Saturday's they have as much time as they need to complete their jumps or until 3pm, whichever comes first. Some Cadets were only on their 1st Jump while others were already on Jumps 3 or 4. By the end of the day almost everyone had reached their 4th jump.
One of the Cadets had a quick message for his mom too.
While the Cadets are jumping, the Wings of Blue Cadets assist them by radio as they make their way back to earth while under canopy. Sometimes these Cadets have some fun while they wait for the Cadets to reach altitude in the aircraft.
Each jump is videotaped from the second they exit the plane through their 10 second freefall until they release their parachute. After the entire group has landed they are then all briefed and graded on the execution of their jump. Sometimes this means the occasional retraining or practice before going for their next jump.
Last but not least, we caught some of the Cadets as they were getting their wings pinned onto their uniform! Congratulations! May you always have blue skies!
Not only was AM490 going on, but the AFF training for the newest Wings of Green members has begun and we also caught a few glimpses of them.
To view the rest of the pictures from our coverage of Jump, go to Galleries - Airmanship - Jump. Or click the link below.